Hydrophilic reentrant SLIPS enabled flow separation for rapid water harvesting

Water harvesting from air is desired for decentralized water supply wherever water is needed. When water vapor is condensed as droplets on a surface the unremoved droplets act as thermal barriers. A surface that can provide continual droplet-free areas for nucleation is favorable for condensation wa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2022-09, Vol.119 (36), p.1-e2209662119
Main Authors: Guo, Zongqi, Boylan, Dylan, Shan, Li, Dai, Xianming
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Droplets
Flooding
Flow separation
Hydrophilicity
Nucleation
Physical Sciences
Separation
Water harvesting
Water supply
Water vapor
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Summary:Water harvesting from air is desired for decentralized water supply wherever water is needed. When water vapor is condensed as droplets on a surface the unremoved droplets act as thermal barriers. A surface that can provide continual droplet-free areas for nucleation is favorable for condensation water harvesting. Here, we report a flow-separation condensation mode on a hydrophilic reentrant slippery liquid-infused porous surface (SLIPS) that rapidly removes droplets with diameters above 50 μm. The slippery reentrant channels lock the liquid columns inside and transport them to the end of each channel. We demonstrate that the liquid columns can harvest the droplets on top of the hydrophilic reentrant SLIPS at a high droplet removal frequency of 130 Hz/mm 2 . The sustainable flow separation without flooding increases the water harvesting rate by 110% compared to the state-of-the-art hydrophilic flat SLIPS. Such a flow-separation condensation approach paves a way for water harvesting.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.2209662119